Adelaide in England
by MarauderAddict
Summary: It's funny, when dad first told me I'd be leaving Australia to move to dreary England, I wanted nothing more to die. But after befriending some guys called the marauder,I couldn't imagine living anywhere else.
1. Chapter 1

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**_**Awsome chap image by Ylime TDA**_****

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I woke in the early hours of the morning, the first light streamed through the small opening in the curtains and all around my room. It danced on my closed eye lids, its blinding glow seeping through the thin skin, causing me to see the faint outline of my veins.

I stubbornly kept my eyes closed, refusing to welcome the new day. It wasn't going to be any good, why accept it any earlier than necessary?

But I knew I couldn't avoid it forever, so I begrudgingly threw back my sheets and swung my legs around to the edge of my bed. Now in a sitting position, I rubbed my hands over my face in an attempt to rub off the fatigue that still swarmed me. Sighing heavily, I realised how big a day it was going to be and much to my dismay, I couldn't do anything about it.

This was it. This was the day my life changed forever.

It's such a corny line; so clichéd. Yet, it still caused my stomach to impersonate a towel being wrung. Why did it have to come so soon?

I just needed more time to think things over and there's only one place that gives you that ability.

I sauntered lazily over to the bathroom, dragging my patterned towel behind me. Seeking refuge in the shower was my brilliant plan. In all the movies I've watched, all the books I've read, if the character's thrown in the deep end, they have a shower. They say it allows one to forget all troubles, and become one with the free-flowing water.

Eagar to rid thoughts of the problematic day ahead, I clambered in. The water was volcanic as it thundered onto my back in powerful torrents, the effect giving a dull massage. My rigid muscles let loose, and I stood in much laxation for a while. Physically, I was calm and collected. Mentally, I was suffering some chaotic disorder in which no single thought is reasonable nor logical.

I was envious of the water. It was free to roam where it pleased, no barriers kept it back. If it wanted, it could so easily just flow away, down a drain and never be seen again. It was strong and powerful, yet so calm and serene. The splendiferous simplicity of the colour was outstanding and it gave it such a scenic look. You could fly in the water, really, you could. You could sink to the bottom and then rocket to the top all without your feet touching the hidden ground. No body could live without the water, so I had every right to be jealous of it.

I jerked my head from side to side, wishing to rid the childish thoughts. What a stupid thing to envy; water. It's a bloody inanimate object, it's not alive!

Deciding the shower did no help what so ever with juggling my thoughts, I shut off the water and emerged into the now steamy bathroom.

'Ahh, the joys of hot showers' I thought sarcastically.  
I roughly rubbed my towel against my damp figure, slowly drying my skin. Glancing upwards, I noticed the ceiling covered by hazy mobs of evaporation that rolled and tumbled over top of each other, sluggishly beginning to disintegrate.  
I reached up and wiped my hand over the sweaty mirror in a futile attempt to clear it, but to no avail, it just fogged back up when I removed my hand.

I tore open the window and switched on the fan before leaving the bathroom.  
I walked back into my room and threw on some clothes. And then took them back off. I followed this pattern for the next ten minutes; clothes on, clothes off – like a modern version of The Karate Kid. My self-conscious mind took over and I struggled to find something decent to wear. After all, I'm going to my new school today, I can't turn up looking like a troll….or a snob, or a fashion downturn. I have to have poise, but not too much, I need to be casual, but not casually daggy. I need to be perfect.  
I finally settled on a pair of blue skinny-legs, a green shirt and a pair of white ballet flats. It wasn't Vogue level fashion, but it would do. With an approving nod, I turned to put away all of the clothes that I had thrown askew across the room. Much to my surprise, there were heaps. Clothes were hanging idly of off all my furniture left, right and centre. It took a while, but eventually I got everything back to normal and decided to leave my room.

If this were a movie the music would start playing and something like 20th century fox would appear on screen.

I walked back into the now clear bathroom and went to brush my hair in front the mirror.  
If this were a movie, my name would be written in the top left hand corner of the glass screen, saying which character I would be playing. If this were a movie I wouldn't have to waste time getting ready because I would have already spent hours letting people perfect my make-up.

I paused in front of the mirror, taking in my reflection. My chocolate curls reached halfway down my back in a scruffy and unprofessional manner. My currently green eyes sparkled like emeralds in the sunshine. But I looked different. I still had my perfectly shaped eyebrows and slightly large mouth, but there was something about the way everything was fixed that just looked….different.

Perhaps it was the stern way my jaw had set, or the fear in my eyes. Both happening for one reason – today was my last day in Australia.

If this were a movie, the pain those words brought would only be fake.

I took my time packing my trunk. The first time I packed it, there were too many summer clothes, second time not enough room for my books, third time enough room for my books…but not my clothes. What exactly are you meant to pack?

I could pack my laptop, but it doesn't work in the school, which mean I need to take my magical power sourcey doovey-hickey thing, but that would need an extension cord, but there's no power point to plug it into so I'd have to take my electrician kit. Then I'd look like a dork so I'd need to take some cool books but then there'd be nowhere to put them all so I'd need a bookcase, but I couldn't fit one in my trunk, so I'd have to place it all under a funny charm, but I couldn't do that because I can't do magic out of school.

"DAD!" I screamed.

"What is it, honey?" he yelled back.

"I NEED YOU TO COME UP HERE AND PUT A SPELL ON MY TRUNK"

Then there was silence. I hate this kind of silence, when you know you've done something wrong, but no one will tell you what. And you haven't got the slightest clue what it was. It's one of the most annoying 'sounds' in the world, and the suspense is deadly.

"Adelaide, you know I can't do magic, I'm a muggle" he eventually called back.

Oh, he is too. Bummer.

I turned to face my trunk, "You're a pain in the bloody hole"

For the twenty or so minutes, I stood rooted to the ground, my eyes narrowed into slits as I glared at my trunk. I just stood and glared at it, like any other normal person would. I'm a very productive girl you see, my plan is to stay here and waste time staring at my trunk until it cracks and eats up all the stuff I need to pack. That way, it saves me from having to do it and I don't have to leave some things behind because they don't fit. See, I'm really quite a bright girl. Cue the applause.  
But my plan was turning out to be a lot harder than I first expected because my trunk wasn't cracking. In the strange land that is my imagination; evil trunks have giant red eyes and horns. So, I challenged my trunk to a staring contest. If I win, it eats up all my stuff. If it wins, I have to do it myself.

Yes, I was annoyed and perhaps I required a year or two in an asylum, but there was no way I was going to lose this. I crawled forward on my hands and knees until I was nose-to-imaginary nose with the evil-eyed trunk.

"I will never blink" I threatened, my voice unusually high.

"Adelaide?" Oh, of all the crappy luck.

I shot my head up to look at dad, thus loosing the contest. His eyes were wide as Jupiter and his jaw hung open in shock,  
After an awkward minute of silence he continued, "A-are you ready?"

I glanced over at my trunk, the evil eyes and horns had vanished and it was the same boring brown trunk I had bought. Actually, it was exactly the same as when I bought it, because it was empty.  
Dad sighed, "Just hurry up, would you?" I nodded feverishly and he trotted back down the stairs.

Abiding his demand, I quickly threw anything and everything within reach into my trunk. A short while later, it was over-flowing with clothes and shoes and books of all sorts. I pulled the lid down and waited for the fulfilling 'click' indicating the end of dreadful endeavour that is packing. Nothing. Sure enough, my trunk was too full to close, so I did the only logical thing possible…I jumped on it.

I squished and wriggled for a while before finally getting it closed. I jumped off and with a victorious "HA!" and danced downstairs to get breakfast.

Dad was leaving for England in about an hour, whereas I wanted to stay behind and say goodbye to my best friend, Nellie.

Dads said that the Headmaster of my new school would apperate to Nellie's house and then take me to Hogwarts.

Honestly, what kind of name is that? Were the founders high or something? I mean seriously, Hogwarts? Might as well be something like Monkeypubes.

Okay, not a good thought.

Taking a seat in the dining room, I looked up at the house. It wasn't big or extravagant, but it was home and I was sad to leave it. The lounge was empty, as was the rest of the house. The fireplace wasn't on and the back door was locked for the first time since we moved in.

Dad placed a bowl of fruit salad in front of me, so I beamed up at him. Fruit salad was my favourite.

"I know you're nervous honey, but it's going to be fine. You'll love it in England."

"It's kind of weird because I've never really been one to be nervous. It's just…how many times have people moved? And if they can do it so easily then why can't I?"

He glanced over my shoulder and then back at me "Because you have a kookaburra that'll eat everything" he smiled, turning away.

I spun in my chair and saw Largy, my kookaburra, eating a pair of socks.

An hour later we got in the car and I was dropped off at Nellie's.

Her house was a mix. It was homey and loving, but also stylish and new. It was relatively big and made from tan coloured bricks. A pale green roof sat atop the sandy walls and a small red peak emerged from the centre. The entire house was surrounded by small trees, rather than a fence, the larger of them only two metres high. Their lawn was the perfect shade of green, and never faltered it's colour into small patches of brown like most do. A deep mahogany door was placed in an indent in the walls, with the garage around the short corner. The lounge room had windows that stretched from the roof to the ground, giving a full view of the contents of the adorable house.

Only seconds after knocking on the heavy duty door, it was pulled back inside the house and replaced with a familiar blonde.

"Addie" Nellie screamed, jumping into my arms. I laughed at her childish antics, and hugged her back.

"Oh, it's so good to see you" she cried, directing me inside.

"You know I feel the same, but it's been what, a day?" I replied, raising a questioning brow.

"Exactly, an entire day! That's twenty-three hours and fifty-nine minutes more than I can handle" She cried, waving her hands in the air dramatically. I grinned.

"You can only last a minute with out me? God-oh-God, what will you do when I'm gone?" I laughed, cocking my head to the side.

Her smile faded and a frown took over her face, "Yeah, well, not much I suppose"  
'Hey, lighten up. This is my last day and I don't want to spend it moping around like a bunch of sad gits"

A small tear rolled down her cheek, leaving a glittery streak behind.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't cry, Nellie. It's okay; I'm still here"

"Y-you're still he-ere, you're s-s-still 'ere" she mumbled, mostly to herself.

"Deep breaths, Nells" I cooed, rubbing her back. She attempted to do so, but it was shaky and caught in her throat a few times.

"Don't go" she finally got out, pouncing on me. She wrapped her arms around me tightly; possessively.

Just then dad walked inside with my bag and Largy's cage. He placed them on the bench next to the door, and beckoned me over.

"I've got to leave now" he explained, glancing at his watch. I enveloped him in a hug and said my good byes.

"I'll see you soon" he called out of the car window, before driving off into the horizon.

By this time, Nellie had recovered from her sudden outburst and was now bouncing on the balls of her feet with excitement. Her layered blonde hair was curling elegantly down her back, but her hazel eyes danced with joy.

"Sooo, what are we going to do?" she asked, excitement dripping from every word.

"Well, I thought we'd just chill at your house and watch some movies" I shrugged, taking a seat at the base of the stairs.

"But, it's your last day. I mean you're leaving soon" said Nellie,

"And..."

"Well, don't you want to do something fun?" she urged, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Like what?" I asked, raising a sceptical brow.

"I don't know, maybe we could stunt the mall?" she answered casually, doing this weird kind of shrug-pout with her lips.

"Are you mad? If we got busted we'd be absolutely screwed. _Screwed_" I fumed, waving my arms aroubd like a mad-women.

"But, what if we _don't_ go caught? What if we're not "screwed"" she asked, quoting me with bunny ears.

"B-but, it's just...it's mad. You're speaking absolute blasphemy!" I cried.

"But it's you last day. We have to do something interesting. You need to be remembered!" she pushed, jabbing a finger in my chest.

I crossed my arms across my chest and turned away immaturely, "Well, I refuse to do it" I said, cocking my chin out.

She sighed defeatedly, "Fine, we won't do it-"

"Good" I approved, turning back around to face her.

"-and everyone will just forget who you are. No one will care that you were a walking form of pure awesomeness" she continued, ignoring what I had said. She had her eyes closed and her head tilted upward with her hands across her heart, "And eventually, I'll forget who you are. And on the day of your funeral, I'll get an invitation and be like 'Oh, yeah. I think I knew that girl" and they'll ask me to do a speech and I'll say you were the most shy, socially awkward git who wouldn't do a small, tiny, little, wee thing to make her best friend forever happy" she chanced a peek at me through her opened left eye.

I sighed, "You're not convincing me"

She breathed heavily out of her nose, eyes brows scrunching as she thought of a different angle to attack me with. Her eyes instantly lit up and she grinned mischievously. Climbing back to her feet she marched determinedly over to me.

"Do you want to be remembered?" she pushed.

"I guess it would be nice-"

"See, this is one way of doing that"

"Exactly, _one way_"

She ignored me again, and walked behind me, placing her head next to my left ear.

"You could be great" she breathed, "Infamous" .

"Infamous?"

"Forever more known as 'Adelaide Lee - the girl who...did something awesome" she bluffed.

"Did something awesome? You're so original" I grinned, scoffing slightly.

"It's got a ring to it, don't you think?" she pushed.

"No, Nellie. Not really" I smirked, shaking my head.

"No? Damn, I was really hoping to come up with good names for a career"

"Don't hold your breath" I laughed.

"Mum, we're going to the shops" she yelled suddenly, without waiting for a reply, she yanked my arm and shoved me out the door.

We stumbled on to the lawn, almost falling over. Nellie regained her balance just in time to receive a rather hard shove from my behalf.

"What's got your wand in a knot?" she asked, rubbing her arm.

"I could have died" I shrieked, waving my hands in the air like the mad-women I am.

"How could you have died?" she asked, raising a disbelieving brow.

"I could have hit my head" I said, pointing an accusing finger at her.

"You're a vampire with a cranium made of granite-"

With record fast reflexes, I swooped on her and clamped my hand over her mouth, "Shh" I demanded, "Some one might here you" I instinctively whipped my head back and forth, making everything a blur. When I was certain no body was in hearing range, I let go of Nellies mouth.

"Oh, loosen your knickers. It's not like they'd make anything of it" she said.

"Just, don't talk about it"

We walked in silence the rest of the way to the shopping complex. But it didn't last long and soon enough we were back to our normal idiotic selves.

"Whoa, go boy" Nellie yelled, half hanging off of a Thomas the Tank Engine automated toy outside the super market, waving her hand in the air like a cow boy.

"Faster, faster, faster!" I demanded, shaking the machine violently.

"Calm down, Addie" Nellie cooed, her tongue half hanging out of her mouth.

"You sound drunk" I slurred, pointing an accusing finger at her. Well, I think I pointed at her.

"So do you" she retorted, poking her tongue out immaturely.

A few seconds later, the machine stopped moving.

"No, Thomas. Don't do this" Nellie wailed, holding on to the steering wheel tightly.

"Thomas doesn't love me" I sobbed, hugging Nellies arm for support.

"Well, he's missing out" she decided, pulling me out of the child's toy.

We wandered idly away from the machine and towards Toy World. As we opened the door, a small chime signified out arrival. Right on cue, a preppy lady with blonde piggy-tails and a giant ear-to-ear grin appeared.

"Hiya, girls, my name is Sandy. How can I be helping you?"

I stood where I was and stared at her dumbly. Lucky for me, Nellie knew what to say.

"Good day, fair lady. Would you kindly direct us to you weapons isle?" she said, using a completely fake English accent.

I giggled and the lady, Sandy, looked very confused.

"She needs help" I explained, jabbing a thumb towards Nellie. Predictably, this earned me a whack across the head.

"Oh, right. Well, hop all aboard the Sandy Express. Foam swords and water pistols are right this way" Sandy beamed unnaturally.

Nellie and I linked arms and made our way through the colourful store. Barbies and Buzz Light-year's and face paints were scattered all throughout the many aisles and I had to admit; I could easily spend a few hours in here.

When we arrived at the 'weapons' section, Sandy left, saying that if we needed anything, to give her a call. I don't think she realised she'd just left two sugar-hyped teenagers alone in an ocean of potentially dangerous foam.

What came next is up to your imagination, but know it involves a lot of Star Wars take offs, war cries, an angry Sandy and a raping broccoli.

"That was fun" Nellie stated, swinging her many bags in circles.

"It was, ay?" I agreed, nodding slowly.

"Do we have any jelly babies left?" she asked casually.

I looked in the bags, "Nope"

"Skittles?"

"We ate all those while in Thomas, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. What about the strawberries?"

"We had a food fight, Nells"

"Bummer. Are there any Tim Tams?"

"Weapons in the 'Great Foam Wars'"

"Jellybeans?"

"No"

"Liquoris bullets?"

"Nope"

"Chocolate Fish?"

"Nada"

"Coke bottles?"

"Zilch"

"Red skins?"

"Gone"

"Frogs?"

"Empty"

"Oh, bloody hell. Okay, what do we have?"

I searched through my bags for a few minutes before replying.

"Four shirts, three pants, six shoes, two necklaces, two foam swords, a box of face paint, Sandy's name tag, a bag of prunes and seventy-five cents" I replied, with an approving nod.

"We've got bloody prunes!?" she screeched, tearing the bag from my grasp and ripping through it's contents to obtain the prunes, "But we hate prunes"

"And we hate Sandy, but we've got her name-tag" I justified.

"Point"

We walked in a comfortable silence for the next few minutes. I'm not sure what was going through Nellie's mind, but I'm stuck on how many lollies we ate. An entire bag of jelly babies, Tim tams, red skins, red frogs, coke bottles, chocolate fish, liquoris bullets, strawberries and skittles all in just three hours. It really in no wonder we were so hyperactive. I mean that many lollies is just uncanny.

We really are a bizarre lot.

We had just arrived at Nellie's house and dumped out bags by the door when a loud yet gently 'pop' echoed around the room. With danger being my first reaction, I grabbed the nearest weapon, which just so happened to be my newly purchased foam sword. I pointed the point of the sword towards the source of the sound; it hung limply in front of me, not at all looking threatening.

As I averted my eyes up, the first thing I saw was a large gash of white. It flowed on and on and had occasional streaks of grey swimming in it. I then realised it was a beard, a beard of a rather old man to be exact.

He was quite tall and easily towered me by a foot and a half. His face was wrinkled, but the skin along his cheek bones clung as tight as leather over them. He had ghostly white hair, which rivalled his beard in length. His body was cloaked with light blue robes, which billowed terrifyingly in the faint breeze from the open door. His eyes were tired and drooping, yet held some base of laughter and excitement from behind his half-moon spectacles.

My second reaction was to scream. So I did. Nellie and I wailed for a few seconds, before realising it did no help and stopped.

"Good evening, you must be Miss Lee", he finally said, looking me up and down.

"Y-yes" I croaked, "If you don't mind me asking, who are you?"

"I am Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witch craft and Wizardry"

"Oh, of course you are" I laughed uneasily at my own stupidness. I must have looked like such a fool screaming in front of him, "I wasn't really expecting you so soon"

"I do believe I said five o'clock" he replied calmly, still looking me in the eye.

I looked down at my watch and gasped, it was five o'clock exactly. Where did the day go?

"Wow, time goes fast when you're having fun then" I mumbled and I heard Nellie smirk next to me.

"Are you ready to leave Miss Lee?" Dumbledore asked.

No. That was the real answer. I'd never be ready to leave. I'd never see Nellie again, or her house. I'll never have fun like we did today. I'll have to start a new school, make new friends; it'll be like being re-born. If anything, I at least needed a few more minutes.

"Could I please have five minutes?" I asked, unsure of how this would affect him.

"Of course" he said, not a trace of annoyance in his voice.

I turned to Nellie. Suddenly the air around me felt cold and stiff. My throat started to sting, and a small tear rolled down my cheek, shortly followed by another one. And not long after that, the whole bloody Nile cascaded down my face.

We embraced in a hug both crying.

"Come on Adz, cheer up, it's just another adventure, you'll have fun, I promise" she pulled back slightly, so we could see each others faces.

"Yeah, I just don't want to leave you, promise you'll write all the time"

"I dunno about all the time Addie, I do have a life you know" I smiled and pulled her back into a full hug.

Nellie's parents walked into the living room then, having heard us talking..

They looked at Nellie and me then at Dumbledore.

"You must be they principle" her dad said, shaking Dumbledore's hand.

"Yes, indeed, I am the Head master. We are running a tight schedule and I will need to be getting Miss Lee back before dinner." He smiled sweetly. He seemed like an alright guy.

Nellie and I broke apart and I ran over to hug her parents. During the time I had known Nells, her parents had become as good as my own.

"Take care love" her mum said, kissing me on the forehead.

"Don't worry your little head off, you'll be fine mate" her dad added, pulling me into a hug.

I turned back to Nellie and hugged her again.

"I love you Nellie" I whispered.

"I love you too" she replied, giving me one final squeeze.

I walked over to the table by the door that housed my bags and picked them up, then went back to Dumbledore.. He took my trunk in one hand and held my hand in the other.

I quickly wiped away all of the tears on my face, and forbade anymore from coming.

I waved one more good bye before being sucked into darkness, I could feel walls closing in on me, then, just as quickly as my feet left the floor, they landed back on it again. I stumbled clumsily as I landed in Hogwarts castle.


	2. Chapter 2

_Ouch._  
That was the first thing I thought as we landed. Standing up awkwardly, I mentally slapped myself for my rotten clumsiness. As soon as I put pressure on my leg, I regreted it. Letting out a quick hiss of pain I shifted my weight to my other leg. I don't think that one was awake. Tumbling to the ground again I felt a nice bruise forming on my butt. What a great way to start school. Why couldn't the big, white-haired, Gandalf looking guy poofed me a giant marshmellow?

Before I could continue my thoughts a boy about my age lent down to help me up. He had a messy mop of raven coloured hair on his head and dazzling hazel eyes covered by a weird pair of round glasses.

He smiled and I felt my heart leap. Maybe this place won't be so bad…

Lifting me up, we both looked at the Gandalf impersonator.

"Mister Potter, this is Miss Lee"

"Hi, I'm James" The boy said,offering his hand.

"Hey, I'm Adelaide" I replied, shaking his hand firmly.

" Mister Potter is your map for Hogwarts. Anything you need, ask him" The old guy said looking at me.

"Okay"

Well, that was a little awkward. What if it was something really personal or what if he gets really sick of me and then he starts spreading romours of me around the school saying I'm as right pain in the butt and I should be avoided. And then because of that I get no friends and I grow up lonely and miserable and eventually commit suicide but then I'm brought back from the daed because it's magic and charged with murder and sent to Azkaban for the rest of my life? I don't like that kid, he's going to ruin my life, I can tell.

"Don't worry, I'm fine with it" James said with a reassuring smile. Merlin, he's good looking. I knew there was a reason I liked him.

"Now, Miss Lee, would you kindly take a seat"

I walked over to the small wooden chair he had indicated, slightly confused.

"Can I ask why?"

"Of Course. This hat here reads your state of mind to tell what house you belong in. Mister Potter is in Gryffindor. There is also Huffelpuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin" He said the last one a lot less enthusiastically. I wondered why.

Dumbledore placed the old and fading hat on my head. I thought about how goofy I must look, but then dismissed it because everyone would have to do this.

"Hmm, a new student in the middle of the year. Lets see" the hat said, "Very kind maybe Huffelpuff will be it for you. But no, you have knowledge, beyond most others" I scoffed at that. "Pride and bravery denominate you though. Lets see, very difficult. Better be, GRYFFINDOR" The hat shouted.

I smiled in relief; James was in my house.

I sat up quickly, that hat was giving me the creeps. Well you can't exactly deny it. Imagine something being able to read your mind and not just anything, a freakin five hundred year old inatimate object.

I danced back to James, who had a lopsided grin plastered on his face. Dumbledore, as I shortly learnt was not called the Gandalf impersonator, congratulated me before he dismissed us.

"See ya sir" I replied casually.

James smirked and led me out.

"What?" I demanded.

"Just the way you talked to the Professor, no one really talks to him like that"

I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks.

"So, what exactly should I avoid?" I asked wanting to change the subject.

"Well, firstly, being Gryffindor, you need to avoid all Slytherin." He said matter-a-factly.

"Why?"

"Well, most of them will grow up to be death eaters"

"To be what?"

"Death Eaters, they're Voldemorts followers"

"Oh. Anything else I need to stay away from?"

"The forbidden forest, especially at full moon"

"Are there werewolves?"

"Um, well… maybe? I mean, I've been told rumors about one being there but I don't know" he stuttered. I knew he was hiding something.

"Whatever, anything else?"

"Nuh, well, only Professor McGonagall when you didn't do your homework"

I laughed and he grinned.

We turned a corner and I froze I my steps. The stairs were moving. MOVING! How the hell are the stairs moving? That's not normal.

James put an arm around my shoulder "I remember doing the exact same thing"

He led me up the stairs of what-the-hell-ishness as they are now called. As we neared a picture of a big lady he said quietly.

'Now, the entrance to each common room is hidden, people only know where their common room is. There are different ways to get into each house. For Gryffindor, you need the password. You say it to the fat lady and she'll let you in.

"The fat lady? That's not very nice…how would you like to be called fat?"

"Well, I suppose she's used to it, it's just kinda her name"

"Well it's still not nice…doesn't she have a real name?"

"I don't know, but she's so old it would probably be better if we called her 'The Fat Lady'"

"Okay, so what's the password?"

"Balderdash" he said confidently.

"Oh, and who do we have here, a new student?" the picture said. I jumped. I was used to pictures moving, but not talking.

"H-hi, I-I'm Adelaide, Adelaide L-lee"

"And nice to meet you Miss Lee, you may enter"

The portrait swung open like a door and we stepped inside. There were at least thirty or forty kids in the common room. There was a warm fire licking away at some logs in the left hand corner and in front of that some couches and tables. The Right hand side of the room held some more couches and study tables whilst the the stone walls were drapped with long red and gold material. There were two staircases winding off in different parts of the room, to the dormatories I guessed. The overall effect was nice, homey even.

Many of the students turned glanced up to see whom had entered. Noticing it was someone they did not recognise, they continued to stare. _Drat. _

James stood on a table and said,

"Everyone, this is Adelaide Lee. She is new to Hogwarts and I want all of you to take it upon yourselves to help her settle in" the boy's in the room all looked gob smacked.

James put his hand down and lifted me onto the table.

"What are you doing?" I hissed into his ear.

"You've got to introduce your self" was his simple reply.

"Oh" I raised my voice so everyone could hear me, "Right well I'm Adelaide. I transferred here from Australia, um; I'm in year 3 and, Uhh, well yeah."

A small boy, perhaps in his first year called out, "Why are you so pretty?"

"Umm, thanks, erm, my mums a vela but um, I kinda took after my dad" I said using the 'I'm half veela' excuse to cover up for my vampire beauty.

I jumped down and James grabbed my hand to introduce me to a girl sitting on the other end of the common room, obviously not at all aware of the brief introductions that just took place.

"Lils" James said.

The girl was rather beautiful herself. Her firey red hair fell down around her face as she emersed herself in a book. Her bright emerald eyes were quickly scanning from left to right across the page. She had quite a pale complextion comapred to the deep tan couch she was balled up on.

"What is it James?" She asked, her frustration obvious.

"Lily this is Adelaide" he said.

"Oh, hi Adelaide. Are you new?"

"Yeah"

"Oh, what year are you in?"

"Year three, well, that's what the Principle said"

"Principle?" she asked confused.

"Uhh, yeah that, umm, what was his name, Dumbers something"

"Oh, you mean Professor Dumbledore" she said.

"Alright" James cut in "Lilykins, I was hoping you would take Adelai- is it alright if I call you Addie or Adz or something?'

"I'm used to Adz" I said.

"Okay, Lily would you mind showing Adz to the dorms?"

"Sure"

Lily shot up, clearly over her previous frustration and yanked me in the other direction, up the left flight of stairs.

"Well hi there Eager McBeaver, you seem happy"

"Well, I haven't really got that many girlfriends; hopefully we'll be friends though."

"Sure" I said, glad I was already on my way to making more friends.

"Oh, one warning, I always have my nose stuck in a book" she said with a sheepish giggle.

"Well, that's one thing we have in common already" I smiled geniually.

"Really, you read?" she questioned, pausing at a slightly chipped wooden door bearing the number 3 in golden plating.

"Yeah, all the time"

"Well, cool…. okay, this is your bed" she said indicating a big four poster in the back left hand corner.

"Wow" I exclaimed.

"And, Dumbledore has already sent your stuff up"

I looked and sure enough there was Largy and my suitcase.

"Wow, your…um…owl? Is different"

I laughed. "He's not an owl. This is Largy, my kookaburra; I use him to post letters and stuff"

"Oh, he is beautiful"

"So, where can I plug in my laptop?"

"Oh, electricity doesn't work here, too much magic" Lily said.

"Oh, okay, that's fine" I said, "Regomarge"

"What did you just do?" she asked.

"Oh, right. Dad bought me this laptop but it's a magical one, so the more magic, the better it works. But I had to switch it back onto magical mode I s'ppose you could call it" I explained.

"Wow, I never thought of that"

Lily and I spent the rest of the hour talking about each other. I learnt that Lily was a muggle born. She was exceptionally good at potions and charms and loved to read.

I had a feeling we were going to be great friends.


	3. Chapter 3

Lily glanced out the window briefly.

"Oh, we'd better hurry up, dinner is about to start", without ado, she, what I thought was actually quite roughly, jerked me up from the bed and yanked me out the door. About halfway down the stairs my feet caught and I hurtled into Lily, sending us both crashing to the ground. With a few tumble-turns and summersaults we flung to a stop at the base of the stairs.

"Oww" we moaned in unison.

My head was throbbing from the numerous times it thumped into the walls and my back was surely covered in half-formed bruises. I had a major head ache coming on and was really not looking forward to dealing with that. I was in pain, yes, but overall, I was pretty lucky. Lily, however, was not. Her wrist was swealing to the size of Russia and was quickly darkening to a midnight purple. Her forehead was consumed in a golf ball sized bump, which had a slight graze on the top and her lip had a small trickle of blood on it. _Ouch._

Taking in her appearance, I immediately went into panic mode. This was not good. Lily was hurt. Crap. What do I do? Should I take her to the hospital wing? Is she in pain? Could she have concus-

"I knew you liked me, but I'm just not really used to people fighting down stairs for me" An arrogant, but slightly familiar voice teased. Looking up I saw James smiling down at me. I glanced back at Lily. James, he would know what to do. Directing my vision back on the boy – whom looked like an angel; halo and all - I smiled great fully.

"James. Help"

Ten minutes later, Lily was poofed back together and jumping around as though nothing had ever happened.

"Still ready for dinner?" she asked happily.

"Sure. Are you positive you're not in any pain still" I solicited hesitantly.

"God, Adelaide. I'm fine. I swear you worry more than my mother, and believe me, that's saying something"

I decided to ignore her joke and focus on the male tagging along next to us.

"How's it going, James?"

"Alright, I still can't believe you _fell_ down the stairs" he sniggered.

Lily flushed pink of embarrassment, the colour colliding dreadfully with her bright, red hair. Suddenly, she stopped.

"Crap, I left it in the dorm" she sighed to herself.

"What?"

"Oh, don't worry. I'll meet you in the hall in a second" she said, walking in the opposite direction.

"Lily, do you want me to come?"

"No, just go with James" she shouted back.

I looked at James. He just shrugged and raised his elbow, "Shall we?"

"We shall" I said as I linked my arm round his. Laughing at our idiocy, we turned a corner and followed the corridor towards the great hall.

It turns out James and I get along quiet well. The whole time we walked to the hall we were laughing at each other. It was a quickly formed friendship, but I was beyond happy I already had friends. Moving was sucky, no doubt. But moving to a place where you knew absolutely nobody was down right miserable so I was glad James and Lily had welcomed me with such open arms. Metaphorically speaking of course. It would have been a bit weird if two people were following me around with their arms spread as though they were carrying an invisible trunk.

As we entered the hall I almost jumped in surprise. Considering I had already read Hogwarts; A History, you'd expect me to be ready for the breathtaking roof hovering above me, but alas, it seems I was not.

"Eeeeeek!" I squealed. James laughed at my foolishness, disrespectful git.

"James, the roof is…it's….it's….."

"A sky?" he said slowly, as though speaking to a five year old.

"NO, it's not a sky…look…" I whined, pointing my fingers up. James tilted his head up too, squinting a little; trying to see whatever it was that was apparently up there.

"Addie, there's nothing up there" he said carefully.

I sighed at his blindness, "James, we're under the Eiffel Tower" I said, but judging by the group of kids in yellow that were looking at me as though I had three heads, I figured it must have been a little too loud.

Ignoring the curious glance I was being given, James led me to the centre of what I figured to be the Gryffindor table. I noticed a group of boys shovelling food into their mouths like it was their last meal, briefly wondering if James ate in such a disgusting manner. Three boys looked up at us and smiled broadly.

"Guys, this is Adelaide" James said, quickly jumping into a seat and piling a bunch of food onto his plate.

I received a murmur of "Hey's" and "Hi's" from 'the guys'

"Addie, these are the guys. There's Sirius", this boy had midnight black layers of hair that fell so lion-like to his shoulders, I was afraid he would start to roar. Rather thick, dark eyebrows arched above his deep set, grey orbs. Thick lashes, like that of a woman, outlined his already perfect eyes. His nose was that of the Greeks, straight bridge with a rounded edge. His lips were a soft pink and stretched across his large mouth, with his cupids bow slightly faint but noticeable. A small, pale scar sliced its way down his temple, travelling for a few centimetres before fading. He had a strong, elongated neck supporting his god-like face with thick branches of muscle reaching out to clutch it from his broad shoulders. Judging by what I could see, he was tall, his head a good foot-and-a-half above the table. He had a sturdy body; his long, muscular arms were resting on the bench. _He must play Quidditch_, I noted. I definitely had to admit, the guy was gorgeous.

"Remus" Matted, dirty-blonde hair fell distractedly into his eyes, as though he had spent the night up studying. His light eyebrows tuffed above his steely blue eyes, sparse, honey-wheat lashes sat above them. He had a narrow Roman nose (shut-up, I know my noses). He had small, thin lips which seemed both plush pink and soft apricot and a defined cupid bow. A light tan birthmark etched its way across the top left-hand-side of his forehead, in a sort of half moon shape and a sharp pink scar formed a soft lump below his left ear. He was a cross between sturdy and gangly with his arms being both long and strong. A small collection of freckles scattered themselves along his forearm. Remus was tall, but not as much as Sirius.

"And Peter" This boy was quite the opposite of the others. Rather than the God-like appearance they seemed to possess, he was the servant. Tatty and dirty, with the look of doom etched in his sweat matted face. His body was short and stout, his fat rolls noticeable as the thin material of the school shirt stuck to them. His ash-blonde hair was stringy and hay like, as if he were just electrocuted, as it stuck out in every which way direction. His almond shaped watery, blue eyes were shallow as they shot back and forth between people. His nose was pug and wide with several freckles tracing the nostrils. His mouth was small and thin, no cupids bow apparent. A mole was placed on the bottom of his left cheek and another under his left eye. His teeth were beaver-like and parted as they sank into his bottom lip. His neck was hardly visible, if he did have one, and his ears were curved out like mouses. He was clearly a shy boy, and I pitied him, as horrible as that is.

"It's nice to meet you all. Mind if I steal food from here too?"

"You know, I like this girl" Sirius said, pointing his chicken filled fork at me.

"Yeah, she looks like fun" Remus added with a soft smile.

"And she's really pretty" Peter piped in, James manifestly kicked him under the table and I rolled my eyes as the small boy squeaked.

"Well, you boys don't seem too bad yourselves" I replied, smiling toothily.

"So do you read much?" Remus asked casually, causing the other boys to start moaning.

"Yeah, heaps. I'm a bit of a book worm" I replied sheepishly. The complaining ceased as the boys directed their flabbergasted gazes on me.

"You read?" Sirius enquired bewildered.

"Are you serious?" James continued. Sirius' expression changed in a flash and was replaced with a cocky grin as he opened his mouth to speak. But I bet him to it.

"No I'm Adelaide, that's Sirius" Sirius and I laughed at the lame joke.

"Do you play Quidditch?" James persisted with my interrogation.

"A little"

"What do you play?" Sirius wondered.

"Uhh, a bit of chaser, but mostly seeker" I replied.

"Oh, perfect" James praised.

"Why?"

"Our seeker, Dave Lockward finishes school this year and we need a new Gryffindor seeker" James said, suddenly very serious.

"I'm not that good. It takes me forever to find the snitch"

"But, whatever" I prolonged, "So I've told you a little bit about me, what about you guys? What do you do at this school?"

"We are Marauders" Peter chirped.

"We're head of pranks" Sirius explained with a goofy grin plastered on his face.

I laughed at the irony. "What's so funny?" James asked incensed.

"I've pulled a few pranks myself, never caught though" I explained.

"Are you joking?" they, once again, said in unison. It was kind of freaky how they managed to do that. Did they practise or something?

"Nuh, so what do you need to do to become a marauder?" I asked generally interested.

"Kiss me" Sirius joke, I lent over, going along with the act, and whispered in his ear.

"Please may I become a Marauder, pretty pretty please?'

Sirius chuckled half-heartedly, "It takes a lot more than that"

I sat back in my seat and crossed my arms, even going for the pout.

Then suddenly, the food in front of me vanished.

"Naw, no fair" Sirius whined, clearly not having finished his meal, but was silenced when desserts of all sorts materialize out of thin air. There was ice-cream and cakes ranging from Chocolate Bulgarian to orange banana crumble. Searching around hopefully, my eyes fell upon a large, ceramic bowl full of juicy, fresh fruit salad. Smiling triumphantly, I dived for it and scooped a good bowl full out.

The Marauders were watching me incredulously as I raised a spoonful towards my mouth. I paused halfway,

"Don't you know it's rude to watch some one eat?" I said mockingly.

They all quickly looked away and started eating their own food. I frowned confused and started eating my salad.

A few minutes later, when I finished my fruit, I looked up and saw all the Marauders, except Peter, waving at me feverantly.

I waved back and they sighed.

"What?' I asked; nothing but confusion in mind.

"You just totally went to fairy land, didn't she padfoot" James said, twisting in his chair to face his friend.

"Completely" Sirius responded, looking at me strangely

"Don't look at me like that; I'm not the one called padfoot" I teased. I tried to keep a straight face but ended up laughing.

I had to admit, these guys were pretty cool and, strange as it is, I already felt really close to them. I never thought for one second that I would make friends this easily, yet alone with a group of muscled up boys and a mouse impersonator. I felt blessed to have such good luck. Well, the mouse impersonator was a bit weird, so I don't know if that's lucky, but Peter seemed sweet enough.

After dinner, we ventured back up to the common room. 1253, that's how many stairs there are between Gryffindor common room and the entrance hall. ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY THREE GOD DAMN STAIRS!

Lifting my leg up the final step, I collapsed in a heap. No wonder the boys were so fit, this place is like a boot camp from hell.

"Addie, umm, what are you doing?" James smirked.

"Dy-gulp-ing" I puffed, panting as though I had just completed a ten kilometre run. Heck, those stairs are worse that a ten kilometre run.

"Well, common rooms just up here" James said, raising his arm in the direction of the 'Fat Lady'. I still think that's a horrible name.

I climbed back to my feet, begrudgingly, and stalked over to the Portrait. James chortled before following me.

"Balderdash" he said. The portrait swung backwards as we clambered in.

Most people were retiring to their dorms; I could see Peter being one of them. I walked towards one of the couches by the fire and sat down. Remus sat down next to me and James sat on the couch opposite us. While Sirius sat on the end couch, which was facing the fire. It was silent for a few minutes, the rest of the Common Rooms inhabitants decided to go to bed. When the room was completely empty, well, bar us, James spoke up.

"So, do you want to play wizard truth or dare?"

Images of previous games I had played rushed through my head. Lozza running around campus in her knickers and me eating a kilo of cheese being the main ones. Good times, well, right up until we were caught by Headmistress Dabra and given detentions. But they were so worth it. So, I wasn't a stranger to truth or dare, hell, I was considered Queen of the game.

"Sure" I agreed eagerly.

James thundered up stairs only to return a minute later with a flask in hand. It was a small bottle, with a narrow neck and a bulbous body. The base was flat and the cork was crystal-like. It was a velvety-red colour, like that of a Christmas decoration and had gold plating's swirled around the top. It was a rather nice bottle and I could only guess what was in it.

"Veritaserum" he explained, lifting the bottle in the air a shaking it slightly.

Placing the flask in the centre of the coffee table, James slid off his couch and onto the floor around the table. We all joined him, curling our legs underneath our bodies. An awkward silence followed as nobody was sure who should go first. Awkward was not a feeling I liked very much; my body felt rigid and my eyes were constantly darting between the boys. Not that they had much on me, Sirius repeatedly pulled his hand through his hair and James was rocking back and forth.

"Ladies first, right?" I offered. They nodded fervently and subconsciously, we all leaned in closer.

"Okay, Remus. Truth or dare?"

"Dare" he answered automatically.

I thought for a moment and said;

"I dare you to sing the Hogwarts school song"

Remus sighed, running a hand through his hair, and stood up.

"Nuh uh, I never finished. I dare you to sing the song and sing it to Sirius to the tune of Barbie Girl" I said, smiling wickedly.

"What?'

"Never picked you to be a chicken Remus"

He took a few steps until he was next to Sirius and crouched down so he was right in his ear.

_Hooogwarts Hooogwarts _

_Hoggy Hoggy Hog-warts _

_teach us something please…_

The common room filled with our laughter as a pink-faced Remus took his place around the table. So it wasn't a very good dare, but at least there was no awkward silence. Yes, I despise awkwardness.

"Okay, Sirius truth or dare?" Remus challenged.

"Truth"

"Naw, no fun" I whined.

Remus paused for a while, thinking. His brow furred in thought for a few seconds before his eyes went wide as a good question obviously dawned on him.

"Okay, Which of the following, and you have to say why, would you date. Snape, Moaning Myrtle or…James?"

"Moony, that's not a question" Sirius bleated.

"Yes it is" I answered, interrupting whatever Remus was about to say, "Go on"

"But, my dignity will suffer so much"

"So" Remus smirked, "That's the point"

"Moony, you are the worst friend in the history of bad friends"

"So, do you want to date Snape?" Remus asked, stroking his chin.

"Prongs, make them stop" Sirius moaned, covering his ears with his hands.

Much to our amazement, James scooted next to Sirius and pulled him into his lap.

"Don't worry, my love. Everything will be fine" he cooed, grinning like a mad man.

Sirius was up in a flash.

"ARGHG!!" He was running around the common room; hands in the air as he screamed like his life depended on it. Footsteps were heard coming down the stairs to see what the commotion was all about, but we didn't care, this was classic. The running continued for quite some time, his voice never faltering, which was a pretty good accomplishment. When Sirius had realised running in circles did no good, he stood, rooted to the spot.

"I've been betrayed" he wailed, his hands flying in the air dramatically.

"Don't you love me too?" James asked, placing a hand on his heart in fake despair.

"I don't love you" Sirius protested stridently.

Silence.

"Well, what about Snape?" Remus said after a moment.

"The horror!" Sirius began, covering his eyes and running in circles, causing him to trip on the couch and fall face first into it.

Everybody, including the newly formed crowd, roared with laughter. I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. I could feel my face going red as I clutched my stomach. I started gasping for breath, before bursting into new fits.

"STOP LAUGHING!" Sirius screamed.

Eventually, we did and the crowd vanished too. When Sirius sat back down he sat as close as possible to me.

"Addie, save me" he whispered, genially petrified. As hard as I tried, a small giggle escaped from my lips.

"Stop laughing, I'm freaking out right now" he said timorously.

"Okay, stopping" I said, my hands up in surrender, "But I can't guarantee what they'll do"

Of course, James and Remus were still laughing.

"Prongsie, you're not really gay are you?" Sirius asked carefully.

James stopped laughing instantly and turned to face Sirius.

"Padfoot, I'm straight as a pole"

"Some poles are bent" Sirius retorted.

"Okay, I'm straight as…Wormtail's hair" James said triumphantly.

"But Wormy's hair is all frizzy and goes everywhere-"

"I'm not Gay!" James said indignantly.

"Well, if you are, just know that I'm here, but I'm sorry I just don't feel that way about you-"

"Padfoot, I'm not gay" James said slowly.

"-and even though you might feel like that about me, I'm not going to be anything more than a friend and I re-"

"I'M NOT GAY!" James yelled.

Sirius audibly sighed in relief, "Well, you could have just said so"

I couldn't help it, I laughed again.


	4. Chapter 4

_Dad and I were walking down the track at night. We loved to go for night time strolls. We rounded a corner and walked into the bush. We were laughing and smiling. We walked up our favourite little hill to watch the full moon. It was peace full and relaxing. It was all quiet. The distant howl of a wolf could be heard. It made my spine crawl. I didn't hate wolves, they just scared me._

_The beautiful rainforests of Queensland were a great place to go. You could hear the water trickling, me and dad laughing, and slow and steady breathing?_

_I looked up into red eyes. I screamed at the top of my lungs._

"Adz, Adz wake up" some one was shaking me. "Come on Adz"

I opened my eyes and saw Lily standing over me shaking my arm.

"Adz, are you okay? You were screaming and sweating and well, being really strange"

"What, oh yeah I'm…erm…fine" I lied.

I sat up. The Marauders were crouched around me. How did they get into the girls dorm?

"How did you guys-" My eyes wandered and I could immediately make out the common room. Question was, how did I get here?

"Why am I in the Common Room?" I asked. James answered.

"Well, you kind walked down here in your sleep, and then you were smiling. You lay on the ground and smiled more, and then you looked up and screamed. We picked you up and sat you on the couch."

"Oh" I need to change subject, "Listen, I'm really sorry about last night I didn't mean to go off at you like that. You guys have been so nice and you were just trying to help and-" Sirius cut me off.

"No it's fine! Seriously"

I was so glad it was Sunday. I didn't have classes today.

"So, erm, what do you want to do today?"

Lily walked back up to her room. James watched her before coming out of his trance and looking back at me.

"Well, maybe we could pull a prank?"

I smiled mischievously and nodded in agreement.

They all smiled as well.

"What if we dye everyone's hair purple?" Remus asked.

"Nah, that's not a prank!" I said.

"We could…umm…give everyone bunny ears and tails" Sirius provided.

"Oh, good one, but it needs something more….we'll make it different for each house. We'll make the slytherins Medusa's and the Ravenclaw's ravens and the Hufflepuff's puff each time they talk"

"Good one Addie" James praised.

"But what about the Gryffindor's?" Sirius asked.

"What about the Gryffindor's?" I replied confused.

"Well, should we make them lions or something?"

"No. Rule number one in pranking, never prank fellow housemates!"

Sirius grunted, but agreed.

We went to work.

We entered the great hall for breakfast. Remus would tackle the Raven claws, James the Slytherins, Sirius the Hufflepuff's, while Peter and I created a distraction. Unfortunately, that meant that I would have to fake faint in front of everyone.

Our plan worked and soon a collection of squeals were heard from all the girls and strangely some of the boys too.

People were running around like crazy, some had snakes for hair, some had a beak and the rest couldn't talk.

It wasn't the best prank I had ever pulled, but it sure was funny. What topped it off was our song.

_When you open your gryffin__**dor**__ with your raven__**claw**__ it makes a huffle__**puff**__ sound and then your __**slyther**__in through._

And the best part was even though we did it, and McGonagall knew, she had no proof and so we escaped detention.

We thundered up to the common room and collapsed in a heap on the couches roaring with laughter.

After we settled down and could control ourselves Sirius spoke.

"Good work Adz, you are officially in."

"What? I'm a Marauder" I asked surprised.

"No, you can't be a Marauder, but you can be our fellow prankster" James replied.

"Well, what about a Marauderess?"

They looked at each other and then Remus said.

"Sure thing"

And that was it.

So we've now been best friends for four years. I'm now in my sixth year and the boys are in their seventh.

Unfortunately, I'm still not a marauder, but they settled for a Marauderess.

So that's me. A half-blood, half vampire, Marauderess.

What a mixture!

Okay, now, back to the story.

It was the Christmas holiday. Peter went home, but the rest of us stayed. Life was good. And I was hanging around with my best friends at Hogwarts.

The marauders and I were laying lazily on the common room couches.

I was in laying in Remus's lap thinking.

"Hey, why don't I have a cool nickname?" I asked boredly.

"What?" James asked.

"Well, you're Prongs, and Sirius's Padfoot, and Remus is Moony. What about me?"

"You're Adz" Remus replied calmly.

"Yeah, but that's so boring. Why can't I have a cool nickname like you guys?"

"Guess you're not cool enough" Sirius teased. I threw a pillow at him.

"Hey!"

"Well, you have to do something special to get that nickname" Remus said.

"And what would that be?" I asked, taking my mind off Sirius.

"Uh, now that is a Marauder secret" James said mysteriously.

"Well, I'm a marauderess" I argued.

"But, you're not a Marauder" Sirius replied.

"Well, why not?"

"Another Marauder secret" James said.

"Jeez Louise. Can I know anything?"

"Nuh" Sirius said.

I huffed but dropped it. When ever I brought up this topic they changed it, saying I couldn't know.

It sucked, but life goes on. Build a bridge, drive away, leave it be…whatever floats your boat.

"So what do you want do?"

It was the too cold to go outside and we were the only Gryffindor's who stayed for the holidays.

"Well, what if we play truth or dare" Sirius suggested. That game was like his bread and butter. He always wanted to play.

Hmm, tempting.

But you only just read about a game of that and it would be very boring.

Yes, I was talking about you; the idiot who is perving in on my life!

He he.

"Nuh, what about a snowball fight?"

"If you want to freeze your butt off outside, then sure go ahead. But I'm not defrosting you" Remus said.

"Fine" I mumbled.

We all sat and thought what to do. Obviously, our brains started to hurt after a few minutes so we quit.

"We could just talk" I offered.

'What do you mean?" James asked.

"Well, you know, just talk about people, and things and us and stuff"

"Okay" Sirius said.

"So, um. What's like in Australia?" Remus asked me.

"It's beautiful. There are the most beautiful kangas and there's a thing called carols by candle light every year at Christmas." I laughed. "Dad and I used to…"

"Used to what?" James asked.

"Nothing"

I hoped that they would leave it. I didn't like talking about dad. Because of that they didn't know anything about him, only that I loved him.

But leave it up to Sirius,

"Why don't you ever talk about your dad?" he asked.

"So, can you think of anything else to do?" I asked ignoring Sirius's question.

"You didn't answer my question, what's up with your dad?"

"Can't you just leave it?" I pleaded.

He stopped before I got angry.

Remus stroked my hair.

"You don't have to tell us you know" he whispered in my ear.

"I know"

Remus and I were really close. He was like my best friend out of all the marauders. Not that I don't like the others but we just got along really well.

I always felt safe around him. I loved him as much as I loved my parents, he was like the brother I never had.

I curled up in a ball, and fell asleep, with Remus still stroking my hair.


	5. Chapter 5

What?" I asked.

"I'm just saying I think we should go east and around Hogsmeade" James answered, a pleading tone in his whisper.

I opened my mouth to disagree; surely he was joking, letting savage werewolf loose that close to Hogsmeade. Well, he was a little thick. You know that joke - when God was giving out brains, you thought he was giving out milkshakes and ordered a thick one - well, whatever James ordered wasn't even a liquid. A loud thud echoed around the mostly empty common room.

We turned around and saw Adelaide sprawled across the floor moaning, having fallen off the couch. So, being the great friends we are, we roared with laughter.

"It's not funny, that hurt!" She grumbled irritably.

I pushed myself off the couch to go and help her.

"Thanks" she sighed, slapping her hand into mine.

She plopped back down onto the couch she'd previously inhabitated and began rubbing her shoulder.

"You know, next time check you're not on the couch when you roll over" Sirius laughed mockingly.

"You say that like I sleep some where else" She retorted, scowling.

"Good point"

And it was, it's a miracle her body isn't imprinted on the piece of furniture.

"What did I miss?" She yawned uninterestedly, laying back down.

"Nothing much" James lied smoothly, running a hand through his raven mop.

She mumbled something unintelligible and rolled over. After a few minutes delicate snores escaped form her throat as she hugged the pillow.

Sirius smiled mischievously and whispered something in James's ear. James face instantly lit up.

"What are you guys plotting now?" I moaned, really not interested in what they were doing. After knowing them for them for so long, the glint in theirs eyes was only all too familiar.

"A wake up call for our dearest little Adelaide." Sirius said playfully, rubbing his hands together as though he were an evil mastermind, but only managing to look like weirder than usual.

He went over and scooped her up. She moaned again but stayed asleep and nuzzled her head into his chest. I still had no idea what was going on but followed hastily.

Eventually, I found myself trudging through the muddy grounds of Hogwarts. The Back Lake was coming into view as the last light of day galloped across its glassy surface. It was truly a beautiful sight; so fresh and calm and-

"BLOODY- ARGH"

"Are you guys trying to bloody kill her?" I yelled, running down to the lake where a grumpy and cold Adelaide was stomping difficulty through the water.

"Nuh, just wake her up" James laughed, a snort escaping. I eyed him weirdly, making a mental note to interrogate him on his frequent snorting. Maybe I should force him into joining that Snorting Anonymous club that I just know existed some where. But my thoughts were cut short by the wrath of Addie. Heaven hath no fury like an angry Adelaide.

"It's like minus a million degrees in there!" she screamed, waving her arms in the air dramatically. She charged at Sirius and punched him hard in the arm. That was going to hurt in the morning...

"Hey, what was that for?"

"What do you think it's for?"

"Being so good looking!" he replied confidently, earning himself another hard blow.

Still shivering, much like a quivering liver torn from it's bode, she stalked over to James, demanding a hug.

"Not likely" said James, with his hands up in defence. She turned on heel and marched over to me.

"Re-my I'm c-o-old" she stuttered, just as a large drop of water dripped onto her nose.

"'Course you can kiddo" I replied, ever being the chivalrous man I am. Cough cough. She flew into my arms, teeth chattering, soaking my shirt. Not that I really minded, James and Sirius were being arses.

"Aw, young love" Sirius and James said in unison, like the immature gits they are.

We glared at them for second, deciding with our amazing 'Telepathic Powers' to get her revenge. Without ado, we pulled out our wands and levitated _them_ into the icy depths of the Black Lake.

"RUN!" I shouted, bolting towards the safety of the castle.

We took off up the small hill with James and Sirius close behind. They dried themselves with a simple spell and charged at us, using their stupid quidditch skills to tackle us to the ground. Without missing a beat, they started vengefully tickling us.

Addie and I screamed and laughed at the same time, making a noise I'm sure a hippogriff on marijuana would make.

"Okay, okay, stop" I pleaded.

"Not until you say 'James Potter and Sirius Black are the most awesome, coolest, smartical sex-bombs in the world'"

"But mum said I'm not allowed to lie" said Adelaide, the grin on her face hard to miss.

They started tickling us again. "Okay STOP!" she shouted.

"James Potter and Sirius Black are the most awsomest, coolest, somethingest and something else-est people in the world-" she said.

"Well, that will do" Sirius said superiorly, pushing off us.

"-and since you're so strong and buff would you pretty please piggy back me up to the castle?"

"But-"

"Please?" she begged, pulling an all in pout.

"Naw, come on. You can't do that to me. It's...it's just so...it's...Oh, fine then. Hope on" he sighed dejectedly.

"Don't forget me" I yelled jumping on James' back, he held me for a few seconds which surprised me, before his knees began to buckle and he toppled over.

"Ha ha, James-y's a weakling" I chanted.

"Race you to the castle" Sirius yelled, already running with Adelaide bobbing to his stride on his back.

We raced up the not-so-steep incline and beat them with ease.

"Hey, that's no fair, you guys cheated" Sirius whined, much like a small child at his defeat.

"No we didn't" I said.

"You weren't on James's back!"

"You never said I had to be" I replied, poking my tongue out immaturely.

We entered the common room and collapsed in a lethargic heap on the couches.

We sat there for a few minutes in comfortable silence before Sirius spoke.

"Are you guy's hungry?"

"Yeah" we sighed bluntly.

Heaving ourselves off the couches, we sauntered down to the kitchens.

After tickling the pear and enduring its third-year Hufflepuff like giggle, the portrait swung open and allowed us access.

Immediately, house elves surrounded us.

"Can we please have some chocolate?" I asked

"And some cauldron cakes and pumpkin pies and a stick of salami and chocolate chip ice-cream with Milo cereal and-"Sirius began.

"AND FRUIT SALAD" Adelaide yelled.

A few minutes later they returned with our food and we went back up the stairs to the common room.

"Fooood glor-i-ous fooood" sang Sirius, skipping like a first year on the first day of school; before they realised it really wasn't any good.

"Must you sing?" I pleaded, my ear drums starting to hurt. After all, Sirius was a crap singer.

"Yes, he must!" Adelaide said defensively, before linking arms and skipping with him to the fat lady.

"Naww, rejected Moony" James cooed.

We entered the common room and saw Sirius and Addie stuffing their faces, as per usual. How people think they're so cool and posh amazes me…

Sirius swallowed loudly and smiled triumphantly, causing cake crumbles to cascade down his face.

"Not fair, your mouth is bigger!" Adelaide wined after swallowing her mouthful of what-ever she was currently eating.

"So, I still beat you!" Sirius defended.

"At least Ads doesn't look like a monkey on fire whisky." I said.

Sirius stopped and pushed the hair out of his face. "A what?"

"A monkey, you know cute little furry brown animal"

"Pshh, yeah, course I knew that. Just testing you"

I rolled my eyes and sat down next to Addie.

"Cauldron cake?" She asked, revealing her chocolate coated teeth, quite the disgusting sight. I took one both to enjoy its flavour and get her to close her mouth.

Not much longer later all traces of the food was gone, not even a crumble was left. And I know this because Sirius purposefully crawled around the floor and shot out his tongue at the sight of a crumble, rendering the room food-clear. The echidna-man in question looked dejected by the lack of edible substances near by.

"What's the matter Padfoot?" asked James.

"No. More. Food" he cried, his eyes literally welling.

Then quite suddenly, he whipped his head up to face me, "Moony, do you have any chocolate?" he said in his best sweet voice, even going for the puppy eyes.

"No" I replied automatically; my usual response to this question.

It must be a fairly precedented scenario because he also followed his usual antics. He took off up to our dorm, shouting over his shoulder "I'll find it Moony"

I snickered and waited until I heard the door shut before pulling a large block of chocolate out of my pocket; my not-so-secret stash.

"Chocolate anyone?"

Addie dived for the bar and sadly took it, munching happily on the corners.

Only seconds later Sirius came thundering down the stairs.

"I couldn't fi-" his eyes narrowed on the chocolate bar Adelaide was holding.

"CHOCOLATE!!!" He cried, diving over the couch to tackle Adelaide for it. They fell to the ground in a mass of limbs.

"Geroff me, you Ponce" Adelaide demanded, attempting to shove in sideways.

"Not unless I find that chocolate in my hand"

"I got it first!"

Shove.

"But I was looking for it"

Shove.

"Too bad so sad"

Big shove

"Give it to me now!" he wailed.

Super shove.

"Not likely"

Mega shove.

"STOP SHOVING ME"

What neither of them had realised was that while they were fighting, the chocolate had skated across the floor and to the feet of a very smug looking James Potter. When this had dawned on them, they froze in their state (which might I had looks like something only gymnast can do) and eyed James with 'you-touch-that-you-die faces. Not that it stopped him. He bent down with deliberate slowness and grasped the chocolate bar in his right hand. Still in slow-motion, he raised it to his mouth, paused to cast a quick glance at the mass of limbs sprouting our friend's heads, and bit into it.

"NOOOOO!!!" they cried in unison.

"Frankie" said Sirius, mournfully.

"Frankie? You named a chocolate Frankie?" Adelaide conjectured.

"What's wrong with Frankie? Me thinks it's a nice name"

I worry about that boy, I really do.

"Well you say 'Me thinks', so your opinion doesn't count" I smirked.

It's great being a kid; not having to worry about that weird bold guy trying to rule the world or what ever and taxes and all the other crap that comes when you turn seventeen.

"You know, I never want to grow up" I stated randomly.

"Agreed" they replied.


	6. Chapter 6

The next few weeks were boring and well, boring.

Class was maddening, as every teacher, in every lesson, on every day, would talk about N.E.W.T.s. I swear they have nothing better to do in their spare time but think of the best ways to bore their classes to India and back. And some of the excuses they came up with to get us to study, My God, I have never heard anything more ridiculous. "The books might be tired and want a rest?" come on, Sluggy, seriously?

I was fine with it, I mean; I'm smarter than a lot of Ravenclaws. But they could seriously learn to cut down on the lectures; I don't know how much more my brain could handle.

On the positive side, Christmas was coming up. Ah, skrew it. Christmas was past positive, it was on the Super uberly fan-freaking-tastic side.

It was dusk as Lily, Peter, James, Sirius, Remus and I sprawled ourselves out across the couches in common room and nattered about our plans for the holidays.  
James was going home. Sirius was joining him. Remus was going to James' as well. Peter was going on a vacation with his family to Russia. Lily was staying at the castle because her parents had to work. Poor thing.

"Well, that's boring" James stated blunty, "Do you want to join us?"

"Nuh, it'll be fine. Besides I think it might be weird if you had a girl staying with you" Lily said.

"Course it won't. Addies stayed before, haven't you Adz" James turned to face me.

"Well yeah. But that was in third year. Us girls have, er, developed a bit since then."

"What do you mean 'developed'?" Yes, he did bunny ears.

"Meaning we have grown in places and we don't wear flannelette pyjamas" I replied casually.

"Too much info Addie" Remus chuckled.

"What do you wear to bed then?" Sirius enquired, stroking his chin like the mad man he is.

"Oh, nothing really. In the winter it's cold so we put on g-strings and maybe a bra. But summer is just too hot for any clothing" I replied sarcastically.

"Eww, Addie, mental image" he squeezed his eyes shut and covered them with his hands.

I threw a pillow at him. "You're not meant to imagine it, you pervert" I yelled.

"I will never be able to look at you the same" Sirius sighed in mock sadness, placing his right hand over his heart.

We all laughed.

"So, what do you say, Lils?" James asked a few minutes later.

"Well, I mean. Won't it be weird if it's you, Sirius, Remus and me? I'd be the only girl, and with him" She pointed to Sirius, "Then God knows what will happen to me"

Had to admit, girl had a point. One time in thrid year a girl form Beaubaxtons had come to stay at Hogwarts for the term. Every day after dinner, Sirius would vanish and we wouldn't see him for a few hours. Then, when he returned, he would have a look in his eyes. You know, that look a five year old has when they've stolen a cookie, the looks that says 'I've done something naughty and I didn't get caught'. We all put two and two together and, with him being Sirius, guessed that he was perving on the Beaubaxtons chick. The day after we figured this our curiousty got the better and we followed him. He walked all the way down to the lake and then started singing the most dreadful, off key version of 'Got my unicorn in knockturn'. A short while later the Giant Squid emerged from the water and joined him. That's right. Sirius Black, school heart-throb, pranking expert and teachers persoanl satan was sining with the Giant Squid.  
Which brings me back to what Lily said - with Sirius' presence, there is no way of knowing what is going on.

The boy in question poked out his tongue immaturley, before continuing. "Well, do you want to come Addie?"

So there's something I need to explain. During this Christmas break the eclipse is going to occur and during the eclipse I, along with every other vampire, or half vampire or anything else that has vampire inheritance in the world, will become completely savage. I will technically still be me but my vampire will take over, in a sense. It will be damn near impossible to resit human blood if it was near me and my vampire characteristics will show (my fangs, eyes and my hair). Back to what Sirius said. There is no way in the entire world that I will be near them when I am so dangerous.

"Er, I can't" I faked a frown.

"Why not?" Sirius demanded.

"Uhh, well you see….the thing is….it's like this…umm, erm"

_Think god damn it…think!!!_

"I promised Dumbledore that I'd help with some stuff" I lied smoothly. Score one to Addie *little victory dance*

"Well, can't you just un-promise?" Sirius asked, ever being the pain in the ass.

"You can't un-promise. Sirius. You just can't"

"Well, we can go and talk to him and make him let you come" James interrupted.

"No, it's fine. You guys'll have great fun" I smiled widely. Fakely.

"Well, the guys will, but I won't. Come on, do it for me" Lily whined.

_Damn you Lily, damn James and his big house and Sirius and his annoying-ness and damn Peter for being a tweak and Remus for not helping me and damn that weird looking first year in the corner just coz I'm on a damning rampage. _

"Come on" Sirius sat up.

I froze. "What?"

"We're going to see Dumbledore"

"Now? Can't it wait?"

"Now's as good a time as any" James shrugged.

"Fine, but I'm coming"

"Duh" Sirius said as he stepped through the portrait hole.

It was quiet the whole time down to Dumbledore's office.

_Grr, why did I lie?_

"Damn, what's the password?" Sirius whispered.

"Oh, don't worry. We'll let you in…" The left gargoyle said.

"…If you give us the password" The right continued.

We all groaned – well, they did.

"Too bad, so sad, lets go-" I started.

"No, the passwords are always a candy name. If we just guess we'll get it quickly" Lily said matter-a-factly. It was a logical answer. Let's add logic to the list of things I'm going to damn.

I groaned.

"Sugar quills?" Sirius asked.

"Fizzing Wisbees?" James offered.

"Bertie Bots every flavour beans?" Lily guessed.

"English toffee" Peter squeaked.

"Chocolate frogs?" Remus said.

They all turned to look at me, as if expecting an answer.

Okay, what's a chocolate they haven't of?........

"Err, Fredo Frog" I grumbled.

The Gargoyles started spinning revealing the staircase to Dumbledore's office.

"Oh you can't be serious" I groaned. Where did my luck go?

"Nice going. What's a gecko dog?" Sirius asked. Oh, right. The same place as Sirius' brain. Damn, now we'll never find it.

"It Fredo Frog, and it's a chocolate made by Cadbury." I replied.

"Who-bury?"

"Cad-, oh, never mind" I grumbled.

James knocked on the door.

"Enter" Dumbledore's voice came.

_Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. !!!! _  
"Ah, Miss Evans, Mister Potter, Mister Black, Mister Pettigrew, Mister Lupin and is that Miss Lee I can see? What do I owe you the pleasure of this visit?"

"Well sir, to cut to the chase, Adelai- I mean Miss Lee, would like to stay with me over the Christmas Holidays, would she be able to help you with whatever it was she needed to another time?" James said.

Dumbledore looked confused.I begged silently, hoping he would get my drift.

"Yeah, you said that I needed to help you during the _eclipse_. But I think I would be fine at Mister Potters' house, I could still help, but I would like to go to James' for Christmas. He has a forest in his backyard so the problem is solved"

Remus flinched behind me and Sirius and James exchanged looks of disturbance. I ignored them.

"Very well, Miss Lee. You shall, but can I talk to you in private for a second?"

"Uh, yeah. See you soon guys" I waved good bye.

He waited until the door was shut and the Gargoyle spun back to the ground.

"Now, do you know how dangerous this is?" his care-free facade was gone. It was time to get serious.

"Yes sir, but I figured I could fly to forest near James' house and stay there until the moon is gone"

"And how do you intend on disappearing from your friends undetected?"

"Sleeping drought?"

He chuckled. "Now, I can not explain why, but Mister Lupin will not be there during the eclipse"

"One less threat then" I grumbled.

"I am also unsure as to is Mister potter and Mister Black will be there"

"So Lily will be on her own while there's a monster on the loose trying to kill her?" I yelled.

"Miss Lee there is no ne-"

My head shot up. I held a hand to silence him.

"Sir, someone's near, may be eavesdropping"

"Very well" he lowered his voice, "You know the consequences Miss Lee, do not, I repeat do not go anywhere near your friends during that eclipse. Now could you please go and retrieve Mister Lupin, I wish to have a word with him"

I nodded and exited the room.

I saw everyone waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs.

"Remy, he wants to talk to you"

They all eyed me weirdly.

"What?" I asked annoyed. That was happening a lot, the less I ate the angrier I got.

"What were you talking about?" Lily asked, worry etched in her freakishly green eyes.

"Nothing, why?"

"We heard you say 'So Lily will be all alone while there is a monster out there trying to kill her'" Lily said.

I stiffened. I turned to Remus whose face held nothing but pain. James, Sirius and Peter looked similar.

"Well, yeah I said that but, don't worry, you'll be fine" I assured her.

"But why will I be alone?" She asked curiously. Damn Lily again.

"Well, I have to go home on the eclipse for family business, they celebrate the moon God or something, retards" I lied again.

"Oh, and what is the monster?"

"No, I said, monsters, and they go by the names of, James, Remus and Sirius" I laughed, hopefully convincing.

I think I convinced her because she relaxed and sighed.

"Too true Addie"

Remus looked some what calmer to as he ascended the stairs to Dumbledore office.

"Don't wait up for me, this might take a while" He called over his shoulder.

"You sure?" James asked.

"Positive" he replied.

We walked back towards the common room.  
I could hear part of their conversation; after all, Vampires have terrific hearing.

'But sir, if Adelaide's going, Lily will be on her own" Remus argued.

"Is there anyway of dismissing Miss Evans during the eclipse?" Dumbledore asked in his annoyingly calm voice.

"Well, yeah, we could always say, hey Lily you have to leave tonight because there is going to be-" Lily had interrupted her eavesdropping.

"Yay, now you can save me from the boys" she jumped.

"Mhm, just give us a sec" I replied wanting to hear what else was happening during the eclipse involving Remus.

"Now now, there is no need to be so open about it, you may not be the only one with highly developed hearing Mister Lupin"

"But…never……years…….another…….where?" I was struggling to hear the conversation as Lily and James argued while Sirius laughed.  
I gave up and turned to my friends.

"What'd I miss?" I asked lily.

"Nothing, we were just trying to get your attention" Lily laughed and the other two joined her.

As we rounded a corner we paused, shock grapsing us, before Sirius charged forwards.

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

"Oi, what the hell do you think you're doing!?" James yelled, taking off after Sirius.

The corridor was eerie to say the least. All laughing had ceased as we froze in our steps. My eyes darted back and forth as I took in the scene before me. Three shadowed figures stood in the centre of the corridor, their faces illuminated by the dull shine of the torches hanging on the walls. As the light swept over the features of the smallest figure, I gasped. It was a young boy, probably a first year, the badger on a small yellow patch of his uniform giving away his status as a Hufflepuff. His rosy cheeks shone in the faint light, both the fat tears that were pouring out of his puffy eyes, and the streaks from those previously glittering like diamonds in the sun. A long red gash sliced its way down the length of his cheek, before fading into small droplets of blood. His entire face held only one emotion; fear. It was etched in the way his bottom lip quivered with every muffled cry that escaped them and the way his eyes were wide as saucers as they darted between his attackers and us. As my eyes met his, he spoke. Not out loud, but with eyes. They screamed that he needed help. Heck, the only way it would have been more obvious would be if a giant Las Vegas sign was hovering above him, lights flashing out the word.

Yet, his eyes were skeptical as he tried to determine whether we would help, or inflict more pain on his tiny figure.

I let my eyes drift to his attackers. Both were much larger than the small Hufflepuff whimpering next to them. The taller of them, reminded me of a troll. To say he was scary would be the understatement of the century. He was monstrous; his body towering over everyone in the corridor. Usually, when someone is that tall, they have good enough looks to make up for the abnormal height, but this guy was unfortunate in all aspects of the physical appearance. His features were blunt; his eyes weren't even visible in the available light. Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if he only had one eye anyway. His mouth was both large and small and as he smiled at our appearance, I could see his beaver-like teeth sticking out. His face was completely unsymmetrical; I wouldn't jump if he was half white, half purple polka dotted. Oh poor, poor, Lestrange.

Deciding I wanted to keep my sight, I looked away from the troll (as Lestrange shall hence forth be known) and directed my vision on the second, smaller bully.

Although he was shorter than Lestrange, he was still quite tall. His hair was a deep chocolate colour and the tips came loose in slight curls, with one stand of hair winding its way into his eyes. He didn't look like the kind of person with brown or green eyes; he needed something more mysterious and different, so they were probably grey. His face was slightly heart-shaped because of his well defined jaw line. His lips were small and plump, a nice rosy pink colour filling them. He was quite pale, and his Emerald robes mixed perfectly with the creamy complexion. His body was well-built, and gangly was the last word I'd use to describe him, but he wasn't fat. He looked a lot like Sirius actually and if I didn't know any better I'd say it was. But seeing as I _do_ know better, I know it's his arse of a brother, Regulus.

The Arse and The Troll ceased what they were doing to see Sirius and James running towards the first year. Sirius got there first and pulled the young boy behind him protectively and when James arrived, he stood as a double cover. Lily and I recovered from the shock of the scene, and stalked over to the Slytherins, taking our spots next to James and Sirius. Lily crouched down to talk to the boy, and as soon as I heard him say, "It hurts, miss, they hurt me", I felt a surge of anger rush through me. I tried as best as I could to resist punching the living day lights out of the two boys, but I knew I wouldn't be able to hold it for long.

Regulus took a few steps closer to us, trying to get a better view.

"What do we have here?" Regulus drawled, averting his attention to each one of us individually.

"My pathetic brother, a blood-traitor, a filthy mud blood, and," he rounded on me, "Well, don't you look like fun" he said, his head bobbing slightly as a smug smirk took over his lips, "Would you care to join me? We could have a really great time, just you and me-"

"If you lay one finger on her, you're going to wish you were never born" Sirius threatened, his eyes burning with hatred, "Although, a slim ball like you would be better off dead"

"And what could you possibly do hurt your poor little brother?" Regulus enquired, tilting his head to the side as he closed the distance between himself and Sirius.

"Would you like a list?" said Sirius, raising a challenging brow.

"Accio wands" Lestrange suddenly called, slicing his wand through the air. All at once, our wands jiggled out of out pockets and shot into his waiting hands.

"Good thinking Lestrange" Regulus praised, without looking away from Sirius. In a flash, he had retrieved his own wand and forcefully held it against Sirius's throat.

"So, big brother" Regulus taunted, "I think you're about due for a beating" He opened his mouth to spit out a spell, when I interrupted.

"If you value your pathetic life, leave him alone' I hissed, my eyes narrowed into slits.

He rounded back on me, leaving Sirius with a red mark across his neck. He stood too close for my likings. Although, if I had my way, he wouldn't even be alive.

"If I may?" without waiting for my reply, he snaked both his arms around my waist, thus rendering me trapped. I tried to get away, put he just held on tighter.

"Let go of me!" I demanded, shoving again.

"No" he challenged, locking his fingers behind my back.

"Get your-" James started, but was cut short when a flash of orange from Lestrange hit him in the chest. He stayed up right for an entire second, before his legs collapsed under him and he fell to the ground with a loud thud. It echoed around the corridor, and a small trickle of blood dripped from his head. I instinctively held my breath, as not to alert my vampire senses.

"James!"

"Prongs!" Sirius yelled, "Why you little-" just as Sirius had turned on Lestrange, an identical streak of orange smashed into his chest and he toppled over on top of James.

"Sirius!" I screamed, shoving Regulus as hard as possible in the chest. His grip loosened and I slipped from his grasp and sprinted over to my unconscious friends. I heard the Hufflepuff boy crying and every now and then, a sob escaped Lily's lips.

As I kneeled in front of the two boys' strewn across the ground, a cry of my own came. I held back the tears and checked their pulses. I could feel the faint movement of the blood running through the veins under my fingers; they were alive. Oddly enough, as I lent over Sirius his eyes followed me and as I checked James, the same thing. Every time I moved, their eyes followed, but nothing else moved. I sighed in relief; they were only hit with body-binding curses. Of course, it's not like an oaf like Lestrange could manage much more.

As I checked everything was okay, my eyes fell on the wound on James' head. Thick, crimson blood slowly cascade down his skull, forming a small pool of red near his head. I couldn't help it, I inhaled. The sweet smell of blood filled my nostrils; it danced over my taste buds, leaving my mouth watering with want. As it traveled down my throat and into my lungs, I wanted nothing more than to suck every last drop of it from James' body. When I breathed out, I was filled with emptiness and I wanted to be whole again. Slowly, I swirled my hands through the bloody pool by James' head. I twisted my wrist all through it and allowed my entire hand to become soaked. With nothing but the blood in mind, I raised my arm and ran my nose across it. Every time I breathed in, I felt myself become more and more whole. And with every breath, I felt my eyes slowly changing colour. I knew that if my eyes changed red, I wouldn't be able to go back. I wouldn't be able to stop.

"A-Adelaide?" It was Lily's fragile call that alerted me.

That's when I came rocketing back down to Earth. I was still in the corridor, surrounded by people. I was still in front of my injured friends and Regulus Black was still eyeing me with interest. I knew that I was acting strange to them. I wanted the blood so bad, but I knew I had to leave it.

I'm not a killer. I'm not a killer. I'm _not_ a killer. I'm not _a killer_. I'm not a killer.

Every time the words echoed through my head, I felt my desire for the blood ebb away. But as the desire left, the anger came. I was beyond furious, I was murderous. I needed to take my anger out on something, or _someone_.

I jumped to my feet and sprinted towards Lestrange. I'm not exactly sure what my plan was, considering he's so big it's not like I can reach up and punch him. Well, maybe if I had a trampoline I could, but I don't have one, so I need to think of something to do.

I'm now a meter in front of him, running full speed with no clue on what I was going to do. Using some quick reflexes, I kneed all the power from the short sprint into the only area I could reach; his crotch.

"Holy Dumbledore!" he croaked, losing his balance and falling to the ground, making the entire corridor rock like an earth quake.

I stood back a bit and admired my work of art. I could call it 'The fallen Troll' or 'the unfortunate Slytherin'. Both could work, it's a modern perspective of what art is. I bet I could get all of Gryffindors to love with ease.

"My my, sweetheart. Did Lestrange really deserve that?" Regulus questioned, coming up behind me.

"Never, call me sweet heart" I growled, stamping my heel into his foot.

I heard a hiss of pain escape his lips and he conspicuously tried to shift his weight to the other leg.

"Oh, feisty one aren't you" he slammed me against the nearest wall, and used his arms to cage me in, "But there's no need to be like that; I have my wand, you don't. What are going to do?"

"If a witch is good at what she does, then a wand is a pointless piece of wood. I am warning you, I am good at what I do" I threatened, slightly raising my eyebrows and cocking my chin out.

"What? You're saying you can do wandless magic?" he enquired, raising a disbelieving brow.

"Maybe"

"Well, you just get more and more interesting by the minute"

"You'll find I'm full of surprises" I said, looking him dead in the eye.

Suddenly, he swooped his head in and kissed me. It wasn't a passionate kiss, it was rough and wanting. He forced himself upon me, wrapping a hand around my waist, whilst the other was still firmly placed against the wall, blocking any exit.

I pushed him in the stomach over and over, trying to get him off, but every time I did, he just kissed harder. I expected Lily to help, but as I chanced a glance sideways, I saw she was trying to keep Lestrange from getting back up. The Hufflepuff boy must have run away by now, he'd be stupid if he hadn't.

Regulus continued kissing me, and while I found it to be the most revolting thing in the entire world, I had to admit he was good. I tried to bring my knee up to slam into his crotch like I had Lestrange, but I couldn't because he had trapped my legs with his own.

"What the bloody hell is going on here?" Remus' startled voice echoed off the walls of the corridor and all around us, the sound filled me with hope.

The next thing I knew, Regulus was torn off of me and thrown against the wall. I quickly wiped my mouth with my sleeve, wanting to rid the horrible taste and saliva.

"What do you think you're doing?" Remus demanded, holding Regulus up by his collar.

"Temper, temper, Lupin" Regulus taunted, "I understand you're jealous, but don't do anything stupid"

"You're sick, Black. Sick and twisted"

"On the contrary, I think you're the veil monster here"

Remus tightened his hold on Regulus, and shoved him once again against the wall. He hissed in pain, but tried to remain collected. I don't get why that line affected Remus so much, but it did and it cut him deeply.

"Oh, touchy subject?" Regulus taunted, cocking his head to the side.

"Get your pathetic pure blood arse out of here" Remus demanded, pushing Regulus towards the end of the corridor. But instead of leaving, Regulus twisted on the spot and threw a punch at Remus. I heard a sickening crunch as his nose snapped in, before I saw the gush of blood pour out of it like a tap twisted on.

I braced myself for the entrance of my vampire instincts, knowing all to well that once they came, I'd have to use all my will to stop from hurting Remus. But for some reason, the blood didn't affect me. I saw it dripping from his nose in all its crimson glory, but I didn't have the sudden uncontrollable urge to suck it all away. Even when I inhaled some air contaminated by it, I didn't feel the desire to have it to myself, rather the exact opposite happened. It was revolting; it was a horrible stench that surrounded me. My throat burned as the scent of Remus' blood traveled down it. I wanted nothing more than to get rid of the disgusting smell; I wanted to banish it to the pits of hell. It was torture.

Why was this happening? Why didn't Remus' blood affect me like James' did? Is my bond with him really so close that his blood revolts me?

While all these questions were swimming through my head, Regulus kicked the bent-over Remus in the stomach. Remus yelped in pain, and fell to his hands and knees. I saw it all happen, but I was too enclosed in my own thoughts to think of something to do. Remus grabbed Regulus by the leg and dragged him to the ground, punching him across the face whilst doing so. Because of the awkward position Remus was punching from, the punch didn't even break Regulus' skin.

They wrestled on the floor, fighting over who was on top. Remus was on top at the moment, his arms punching the living day lights out of Regulus. In turn, Regulus wrapped his right leg around Remus' waist and shoved him, causing him to loose his balance and roll over. Now that Regulus was on top, Remus' body had become a punching bag. Regulus was hitting every available body part with excessive force, whilst Remus tried to roll back over. Regulus had seated himself on top of Remus in a way that didn't allow Remus to move. As blow after blow hit Remus face, it's amazing he was still conscious.

But as each one of those blows hit him, I began to get angry. I was completely furious with Black. He had hurt a first year, bounded my friends, stolen my wand, kissed me without permission and now he was using my best friend as a punching bag.

I felt a surge of power rush through my body, and my arms started to tremble uncontrollably with anger. Small sparks emitted from my finger tips, and I could feel a ball of power and energy rise through my body. More and more sparks shot from my fingers, getting brighter and larger each time.

With one last punch at Remus, Regulus was shot backwards.

All the anger, the power, the desire; all the bad emotions I had felt during this encounter mixed with energy and shot at Regulus. The entire corridor flashed gold, as red sparks attacked Regulus. I kept on pushing it all, all the energy, I got every last drop of it to hurt Regulus. As he flew back into a wall, I heard the sickening crunch of his leg bending the wrong way. He screamed out in pain, arms flying to his legs.

The final bursts of energy shocked Regulus, and then the corridor went dark again.

Everything was quite. There was no sound, no light, no nothing. I sensed someone nearing me, and squinted. I made out Remus' bruised form approaching me. When he got close enough, he wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. I collapsed into his arm, having drained all my energy to hurt Regulus. He started rubbing small circles around my back.

I don't know what did it, it may have been the lack of energy, it may have been the forced closeness of another or the blood or the darkness. but a tear slid down my cheek.

I rubbed it away quickly, hoping no one saw it, but as soon as I did another came. I sobbed into Remus' shoulder and he tightened his grip around me. He didn't say anything the whole time, he just let me cry.

A few minutes later, the tears started to slow, but every now and then a small cry would escape from my lips.

I pulled back from Remus' he loosed his grip so there was a gap between us, but still kept his arms around my waist.

I gave him a once over; his sandy hair was tousled and his eye was black. His arms were dotted with half-formed bruises and a small trickle of blood was on his forehead. I noticed how wet his shirt had become and felt a blush crawl up my neck as I realized it was all from my tears.

"Remus, I'm so sorry"

"Don't apologize" he demanded, "It's only a shirt"

"It's a very nice shirt" I mumbled, my voice cutting off slightly due to my blocked nose.

He shook his head and eyed me critically. His eyebrows crunched together above his eyes in thought and he pursed his lips. I began to feel nervous under his stare and shuffled my feet.

"What's the matter?" he finally asked.

"I-nothing. Regulus was just agro-"

"No, it's not that. There's something more going on"

He knew me too well. It was bugging me, it always is. It's from the darkness and the forcefulness; it's from the blood and the tears, it's made the memories surface. I keep seeing it. It's always there. She's always there.

"Remus, I don't know what you're talking about"

"I won't buy your crap, Adelaide. It's you mum, isn't it?"

"I've shed enough tears for her" I said, swallowing difficultly

"There's no such thing"

I lifted my head and looked quizzically into his eyes, which in counter were full of sympathy. I shook my head and sighed, looking down at my feet, "I really miss her"

"And you're allowed to" he replied, "Listen; there's no easy way of saying this, Kiddo. But your mum's gone"

I felt a pang in my chest as the words sunk in. It was true. Of course it was. And I've known it for years. But to hear the words out loud was completely different to thinking them in your mind.

When it happened, I got so many apologies, "I'm sorry about your lose" they'd all say or, "Get better soon".

They'd say it like it was a disease. Like I had the flu and everything would be good again in a few days time. But no matter how long goes by, the pain would never ease, the loose would never fade. The guilt, it was a cruel demon and it would never go away; it would taunt me forever, it would rub it in. I'd wake in the morning to Guilt screaming, "It's all your fault"

"I keep seeing it, Remus. Every single dream, it won't go away"

"We can go and see Madame Pomfry to get a dreamless sleeping potion it you want, he offered

I shook my head, causing my messy curls to fall into my eyes.

"No, I'm fine. God knows that woman's done more than enough for me"

We remained silent for a few minutes. It was amazing how great a friend Remus was. He didn't at all care that I'd just blasted a man into the walls uncontrollably; he was more worried about me. Merlin, I love that boy.

"Adelaide?"

I turned my head to the side to see Lily approaching me hesitantly. I sighed. Lily was a great friend, she truly was. But I knew deep down, that she was scared of me.

"I'm fine, Lils" I said, giving her a sad smile.

"Are, are you sure?-"

"Would somebody please explain what the bloody hell just happened!?" Sirius' voice boomed over top of Lily's, drawing all our attention towards him. Both he and James were free of the body-binding curse and marching towards me determinedly.

"Please?" Lily added.

I shook my head and tore my gaze towards the ground.

"Adelaide, tell us what happened" James demanded, with a look on his face I can't really describe. It was a mix between fear, anxiety, sympathy and curiosity and I didn't like it.

I spun on heel to look at Remus, searching his face frantically for help. Surely he knew why I couldn't tell them

"Remus?"

"You need to tell then, Adz" was his only reply.

I sighed dejectedly, and turned back to my friends. He was right, he always was. They deserved to know.

"My mum was murdered"


	8. Chapter 8

A harsh silence swept over the corridor, enclosing us all in its reticent grasp.

I knew I shouldn't have told anyone. I shouldn't have uttered a word. I would have been better off leaving it to myself and not telling anyone. But that's just my problem, its how my life works. I do things without thinking of the consequences, and just get myself into more and more crap until at some point; someone ends up dragging me out of it all. I really hope someone can drag me out of this.

But honestly, I didn't need to tell them. It is a very painful and guilt-stricken memory that I wish to never share again and my arse of a so-called-friend pressured me into doing saying it. Remus Lupin, for making me feel such complete and utter regret, you are banished to the pits of hell forever! No, you don't deserve that, you are banished to Moaning Myrtles toilets forever! Yes, this is what you must suffer for betraying me.

Ah God, how can I be thinking such ridiculous things right now? This is perhaps one of the most important mile-stones like moments of my life; confessing all to others and my incredibly stupid brain is wondering how I will punish my best friend for pressuring me into something I really should've done. They are my friends after all, they deserve to know this. They deserve to be trusted by me, there's nothing they haven't told me after all.

The more I dwelled on the fact that I told them, the more prominent the twinge in my stomach became. Even after all these years, I missed my mum. But then I guess that's just the thing about grief, it never fades. Sure sometimes it may not be your top priority, but it's always there. Kind of like the people you're grieving about, they'll always be with you, egging you to move on and overcome any other obstacles you'll face in life. But that doesn't mean you won't miss them.

A small draft tickled my ankles, sending chills up my spine. I slowly raised my head and gazed across all of my friends. They were uncertain of what to say or do. Their faces were contorted in the same unsure manner; their eyebrows were knitted together in puzzlement and worry, whilst they simultaneously nibbled on their bottom lips. If it wasn't such an awkwardly upsetting moment, I would have laughed at their faces, but as it seems, it is in fact an awkwardly upsetting moment.

Remus continued to rub soothing circles on my back, trying to calm me from the inevitable pandemonium I'd be facing internally. The movement on my back was just enough to prevent me for lapsing into an absolute state, but if anything changed, I knew I wouldn't hold.

Life must have it in for me.

"Adelaide, are you okay?" Lily's concerned tone echoed down the corridor. Her voice must have 'awakened' everybody else because within a second, everything went hectic; my friends had revived from their momentary shock and fired questions at me in record speed.

"Addie, do you want to talk about it?"

"Would you mind explaining everything, love?"

"Adelaide, how did it happen?"

The questions flooded my hearing, each demanding a better explanation of what had happened. But I couldn't do it, I couldn't explain it.

I couldn't handle doing it all over again. Like when it first happened, when I was first aware that I would never see my amazingly perfect mother again.

She was lost to the world forever. She was never coming back.

The constant drone of questions was getting to be too much. I couldn't handle it. They were shooting around in my head, almost painfully. I had to go, I couldn't tell them any more.

"Adelaide, please, talk us" Lily exasperated cry demanded. I took a step towards her, removing Remus's grasp around my waist as I did so. She nodded slightly, begging me to come out.

"I…..I…" was all I managed to choke out, before everything became unsteady, and I lost my balance. The ground was becoming frighteningly close.

"Adelaide!"

And then everything went black.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

_The rain thundered down onto the nearby tin roves, the sound much like golf balls clanging down in an unruly mass, creating a forever deafening hum in the background of an otherwise silent night. ___

_A figure made its way down the street, clad in a thick, dark cloak which was drenched and clung desperately to its body. The mushroom shape of a tattered umbrella emerged from its left hand side, as its towering shadow swept across the bitumen track. ___

_'Let's see" it drawled, eyes sweeping over the deserted street, "Eni, meni, mione, mo" a hollow laugh erupted from the base of the creatures throat, the sound daunting and worthy of a horror film. The laugh that a sadistic murderer would create whilst torturing an innocent little girl. It turned towards the chosen house, 18 Patterson Drive, sensing it to only be inhabited by a young women. ___

_Its footsteps penetrated the silence, providing an eerie beat for the figure to perform its task. Each footstep was accompanied by a sharp splash of water, which would shoot up from under the figures feet, before hurtling back to the ground, drenching the figures tattered pants. ___

_Splash… Splash… Splash… ___

_Each footstep marked the slowly detireating length of a life. The figure was out for blood. It would show no mercy, no regret. It would not appraise the life of the young woman about to die, it would kill. ___

_It approached the shadowed cabin determinedly, its eyes glaring at the rotted wooden walls as if they could see straight through them. The sound of a television game show waffled through the air, becoming louder the closer the figure came to the front door. ___

_After taking the final footsteps towards the entry, the shadowed shape tore open the door in one swift motion. An eerie creek accompanied the figures entry and the sound of footsteps padding on the carpet soon filled the room. ___

_The young women was sitting innocently on a tattered couch, slowly placing pieces of buttered popcorn into her mouth, her full attention on the TV. She did not sense the cloaked figure slowly approaching her until it was too late. The floor beneath its foot creaked, causing her to turn in time to see it lunge for her. ___

_A blood-hurtling scream pierced through the room, before a defined thud could be heard; a body hitting the ground. ___

_No sooner had the women fallen, did the figure clamp its mouth around her neck, sucking with severe desire. Her blood began shooting through her veins and travelling into her neck, thus down the vampires throat. The body was hunched over the dead woman's neck for a few minutes, before it was hit with a small toy, a squeaky sound emitting from it. ___

_"What are you doing to my mummy?" A small girl asked, her vibrant green eyes shimmering with intense curiosity. She was dressed in a simple knee-length night gown and was clutching an outdated teddy bear to her side. Her shoulder length curls were tangled and askew, some tied back in a loose pony tail. ___

_The vampire appraised the new comer, a twisted smile forming on his lips. He threw the young women, whom he assumed to be the little girls mother, aside like a rag doll, her head lulling to the side in an unnatural angle. ___

_"I was just done with that one. Perfect timing poppet, I could use with a double feed" ___

_The small girl, having realized the danger of the situation, scrambled towards the door as fast as she could. Despite her efforts, the vampire met her halfway, wrapping his hand around her tiny throat and lifting her from the ground. ___

_"Don't worry poppet, you won't feel a thing" it claimed, lowering its head towards her neck. ___

_As its lips slightly penetrated the girl's delicate skin, a howl took over the sky. The vampire froze, releasing its firm hold on the girl's throat, and hesitantly glanced out the open door. ___

_A small breeze trickled through the door and seeped up the vampire's cloak, making it billow terrifyingly. The fearful demeanor was ruined, however, when it whimpered at the sound of a second howl. It scampered away outside, leaving the girl alone in the cabin with her dead mother. ___

_Without thought, the girl slammed the door shut, somehow hoping it would prevent the murderous creature from re-entering her once safe home. ___

_She slowly turned and looked at her mother's drained body. It was lying limply on the floor, its head twisted unnaturally and its limbs sprawled awkwardly around it. A small puddle of blood circled her head, and her eyes were open and soulless. ___

_The small girl sobbed at the sight, taking a seat near the door and hugging her knees to her chest. A slight pain enveloped her neck, but she ignored it, thinking only about her dead mother. ___

_Time seemed to lose reason, as the girls small body shook violently with each of her pain stricken cries. ___

_Eventually, she stopped crying and glanced at her mother. A small yawn escaped her mouth and she rubbed her eyes. Crawling to her mother's body, she lay next to it; lifting her mother's cold arm over her waist and snuggling into her blood stained neck. ___

_The girl fell asleep in her mother's dead arms, hoping against hope that when she awoke, everything would be fine and that her mother had not been killed by a vampire. _


End file.
